Andreeva pins place in RG business end

Just like at the Olympics, the Roland-Garros team have introduced a glistening pin collection this year for players to attach to their accreditation lanyards.

There are 20 in total - five ‘draw’ pins for different event categories, eight in the ‘Roland-Garros’ collection (think Panama hat, umpire's chair, tennis balls etc.), as well as seven ‘performance’ pins correlating to each round.

The 19-year-old, who grew up collecting stickers, has filled the majority of the space on her lanyard, but there is still room for a few more.

On Friday, the No.8 seed revelled in her position as frontrunner to move past world No.28 Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2 and into the fourth round. That’s four performance pins picked up, three to go.

“I feel like it's a very nice addition to the tournament, because that's what kind of keeps me motivated, because I want to get more pins,” Andreeva said, pointing out her current collection to reporters.

“They said that I could get three different pins a day… I took all of them, everything that they had already. They give us one pin per match that you win, so this is the match number one, two, three, and now advance to the fourth round, so I got this one.

“I wear them proudly, and I hope that I can get more, more pins, and fill up my credential. Then we'll see.”

Two years ago, on the very same court, Andreeva collected a Paris 2024 Olympics silver medal alongside Diana Shnaider in the women's doubles.

“At the Olympics I didn't live at the Olympic Village, so I was not able to exchange pins with other athletes, but the physios in the locker room also gave me some pins,” Andreeva explained.

“Then I saw players here in the locker room, they gave me some, I gave them some. From Olympics I also have a full credential with different kinds of pins.”

In the day's action, the match against Bouzkova was punctuated by two marvellous moments from Mirra.

With the opening set locked at 4-4, the world No.8 chased down a drop shot and managed to use a backhand with vicious side spin for her own drop shot to only just dink over the net.

That helped launch Andreeva into the ascendancy and in the second set her confidence was sky high. Backpedalling towards the baseline, out of position, the teenager whipped a forehand cross court just a few millimetres out of Bouzkova’s reach.

That hot shot provided the advantage, and Andreeva was soon picking up her latest pin, having become the youngest woman to reach the last 16 in singles in Paris for three consecutive editions since Martina Hingis (1997-99).

“Every time I play against Marie, it’s a tough battle, she’s an incredible competitor,” said Andreeva, having fired 30 winners to remain undefeated against Bouzkova in five encounters.

“I knew she’s going to fight for every ball no matter what. You really have to work the point to win them. I’m super happy playing super aggressive throughout the match.”

The No.8 seed now leads the women’s tour with 32 victories in 2026 and will seek to add to that tally against Switzerland's Jil Teichmann, who beat Czech No.10 seed Karolina Muchova earlier on Friday.